


The boy next door

by Thatonekidolliewrites



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Agoraphobia, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depressed Nico di Angelo, Eating Disorders, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatonekidolliewrites/pseuds/Thatonekidolliewrites
Summary: Nico gets a new neighbor, a tall, tan new neighbor, one who's voice sounds really really good even when muffled by the wall between their apartments.
Relationships: Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. shitty pizza and long showers

Percy Jackson was the boy next door, literally the boy next door he was moving into the vacant apartment next to Nico. Nico watched from the peep hole as boxes were moved, as the boy, who he assumed was the Percy the boxes belonged to was tall, tan, he had nice hands, Nico couldn't see anything apart from that really as they shuffled between the stairs and the apartment. There was a girl with him, shorter, not as tan but she had some sun, he could occasionally catch a glimpse of her curly blonde hair. Girlfriend. Nico hopes they aren't noisy. He figures he should've felt weird, watching them from his peephole, listening to them talk all thanks to the thin walls of their building. Percy was studying marine biology, the girl, Annabeth, was playfully scolding him for getting an apartment so far from her dorm. Percy calls her wise girl, Annabeth calls him seaweed brain. Nico could tell who's handwriting was who's on the boxes, between the soft and neat curls of Annabeth's words and the sharper more heavy handed scrawl of Percy's it wasn't all that hard. Nico was getting tired of standing there, even if this was much more interesting then the criminal minds reruns he knew by heart at this point that shame of being a creep was climbing up his back the longer he watched. He decided it was best to just go lay in bed again, he could still hear them talk, they were loud, carefree, it was like a podcast. Nico liked podcasts they made him feel like he had friends. 

He has friends of course, he has Hazel and Frank, they're all he needs really. Hazel would check in on him every day, make sure he was doing alright, she'd talk about dad and how he wished Nico would visit sometimes but he understands why he doesn't. Nico would visit their dad, he really would, he just can't, he doesn't leave his apartment, he can't leave his apartment. He tries to, he tells himself he'll go pick up take out or that he'll wake up early and visit the farmer's market but he never can. His clothes are never clean, his hair is greasy, he looks too dead, pale and shaky, he'd scare people too much. They'd start to pity him, he doesn't want their pity. 

Nico had fallen asleep listening to Percy and Annabeth talk, and he was sleeping well until there was a knock at his door, there was never a knock at his door, people didn't just _knock_ on his door. He froze up, a dear caught in the headlights his heart raced in his chest. His apartment was too much of a mess to open the door, he hadn't spoken to anyone in days he would sound like hell he can't say anything. Nico rushed to turn his lights off. 

"Hey, um, I'm Percy I moved in next to you, I was wondering if you knew any good places to eat." his voice was so good so warm. Nico had plenty of good places to eat, there was a Thai place a couple blocks right at the edge of downtown, there was a really good family run Italian like actual Italian place they could go which was more down towards the mall, there was a nice little diner just on the other street that had the best god damn fries Nico had ever had but every word caught in his throat. He couldn't answer a voice that perfect. 

"No ones home Percy." No, no I'm here I'm here just give me a minute I'm here. 

"I could swear the lights were on, damn," Percy chuckled a little. 

"I saw a pizza place on the way over we can just get something from there." No, god no don't do that do not do that their pizza is horrible and much too greasy it'll make you sick that will be a horrible memory for your first day in a new apartment. 

"Sounds good to me." Fuck. 

They were gone before Nico could even breath much less speak again. It took even longer for his muscles to relax, for him to uncurl from his tight ball, for his nails to be pried from the soft skin of his arms. His breaths were still coming out in short sputters. His grip would leave bruises, he was sure of it, he didn't like to admit it but he was fragile, his skin was so pale you could see every vein running through him. 

Nico felt gross. It had been weeks since he last showered and the usual natural curl to his hair was flattened by grease. He had been wearing the same old stretched out shirt for weeks, maybe months he didn't really know. It was a shirts dad had given him, it was probably his favorite shirt. It wasn't like the other gifts from hid dad it showed much more care, it showed that he had listened when Nico talked about liking my chemical romance absentmindedly on their way back from therapy, when Nico still left the house. He had already worn it after showering too many times, the only clean shirt he had left was a bright and loud Hawaiian shirt that Frank had got him as a joke, to bring more color into his wardrobe. It wasn't all bad, there were skeletons surfing instead of little men, it was still fitting in a way. It wasn't comfortable to sleep in but he could just sleep in only his boxers. He'd just have to turn the lights off and wrap up tight so he wouldn't upset himself.

Nico liked showers even if he didn't always have the energy to take them. The warmth of the water wasn't like the warmth of his blankets. It loosened every tense muscle in his body, untied every knot in his back left by stress and bad posture. It felt like he could wash everything away, like he was washing everything away, his bathroom was the only really clean part of his house apart from a dead house plant on the windowsill that Hazel got him that he keeps trying (and failing) to revive. He would shower until the hot water ran out, standing there, washing his hair one time to many, scrubbing his skin until its red, not enough to be raw though. He just wanted to work the smell of his body wash into his skin, he wanted to be able to hold onto it's warm sweet sent for as long as possible. He squeezed every drop of it out of the bottle. He didn't realize he was crying until he turned the water off yet something warm was still dripping down his face. He didn't know why, and it didn't hurt like when he regularly cried, there were no hiccuping sobs or gasps, it was just crying, crying just to cry. 

H: hey, I'm going on a quick run for errands do you need anything? 

N: more body wash, ran out 

H: ok anything food wise? 

H: have you eaten today? 

He had to think about that one, what was considered today had already blurred into the rest of the week. He though he had eaten breakfast, but then again that may have been yesterday, or the day before that, none of it is really significant anymore. 

N: Not yet

H: do you need anything to eat 

N: Idk

N: microwave meals are always good to have more of 

H: ok 

H: Frank will come over tomorrow morning before he has class 

N: I have a new neighbor 

N: his name is Percy, he's tall 

H: You met him??? 

N: listened through the wall, watched through the peephole 

N: he seems nice 

H: that's good 

H: dad wants you to call him 

N: why can't he call me? 

H: he did, you didn't answer 

N: I'll call him tomorrow

H: Ok 

H: text me if you think of anything else you need 

H: I love you 

N: love you too 

Nico wasn't gonna call their dad, at least not tomorrow, Hazel knew he wouldn't, Nico did too. 

Percy had got back home sometime when Nico was showering, he could hear him walking around in his apartment, humming. Annabeth wasn't with him. Just Percy, dancing around his apartment in his socks, the indie pop Percy listened to wasn't Nico's style but Percy singing along was, he wasn't perfect at it by any means, but it was nice, something for Nico to fall asleep to. It was so easy to fall asleep. 


	2. breakfast and brownie mix

Nico was woken up by Frank letting himself in, arms full of groceries, attempting to be quiet and failing. Nico, for once didn't curl up to hide from the noise and the light from his blinds being drawn, he slept well, he isn't tired, at least not physically. A tad sluggish for sure, probably because considering the time he fell asleep he's overslept by a long shot.

"Good morning sunshine," Frank chuckled a bit, setting down the bags of groceries, "I've got some other stuff for you, I'll be right back ok." 

Nico just hummed, that gave him time to put a shirt, the only shirt, on. Though Frank has seen him in all his pale glory Nico wasn't all that happy with watching the disappointment cross Frank's face when he sees that his ribs are visible again. he slid his legs out of bed, kicking away the discarded laundry on his floor. He should pick that up, especially while Frank is here he could take everything to the wash. Shirt first, if he can find it in the piles. Nico grabbed the medium sized canvas sack that he used as a laundry hamper and started to load his clothes up into it, searching for a somewhat clean shirt was much easier without the piles of other laundry on the floor, about half way into picking up he found the thing, loud, very loud, like if cartoons were all lumped into one sound and that sound was a shirt. 

"You sure are lively today Nico," Frank smiled at him from the slightly ajar doorway, pushing it fully open with his shoulder and kicking it shut once he was in, he had a kids meal in one hand and a large plush bat in the other arm. Nico managed a faint smile. 

"I especially like the shirt."

Nico smiled a little more, pulling the drawstring on the bag full of clothes and setting it by the doorway before drifting over to the kitchen and boosting himself up onto the countertop. 

"That's a lot more groceries then I expected," he mumbled, staring at his boney knees, they were always flushed an awkward red, it was one of the only things that made Nico look like a living person, the blush of his knees, elbows, knuckles, shoulders, and especially around his eyes and nose. This red that made him look like he was freezing cold all the time, and maybe he was, he's just been so cold for so long that it feels right. 

"Well, Hazel was insistent on trying to get you things to put a little more pep in your step, so it isn't all food," Frank was unloading the groceries into Nico' fridge, frowning at the past date milk and old take out Nico left unfinished because he always said he'd eat it later. Nico watched, trying to ignore the deep embarrassment he felt. He felt disgusting, he thought Frank thought the same thing of him. Nico snatched up the kids meal from the counter, it was the right size for his appetite, he hasn't been able to eat adult sized meals for a long time. 

"Well what else is it," he asked, munching on the fries, they were fresh, salt clinging to the oil that still hadn't fully been absorbed by the cardboard container, 

"So," he starts to pull bottles out of one of the bags, "the body wash you like got made into a body spray and a lotion, those cracked up knuckles of yours look like you could use some of this, this is a bottle of dry shampoo you use it when your hair is getting a little too greasy, spray then comb through, it doesn't take the place of a shower but it helps if you start feeling gross, this is some face wash, for when you're too tired to shower but wanna feel a little cleaner, this is moisturizer," 

"wait I thought I already got lotion," he interrupted, mouth half full of cheese burger.

"Well that one is for your body, this one is for your face, it won't clog your pores I think, Hazel explained last night but I was half asleep." 

Nico just nodded waiting for Frank to keep talking. 

"Ok ok, so, these are some fluffy socks they were on sale and Hazel got us all matching ones, this is a weighted blanket, its supposed to help with anxiety and sleeping problems, if you don't like it you don't have to use it," Frank smiled, like he had gone over everything, but Nico sat there and stared at the comically large plush bat on the table. 

"Oh! He's from me, reminded me of you is all," Frank's smile widened as he puffed his chest up a little. 

"Thanks," Nico had stopped eating to look between the stuffed animal and the smiling man in his kitchen. He hasn't had a stuffed animal that big in a long time, he stopped buying stuffed animals for himself around the age of twelve, he had small ones that were given to him but this thing, it was impossible to hide, and he didn't want to hide it. They sat in silence for a while, Nico finished his happy meal and discarded it while frank continued to load things into his fridge, quick easy things, frozen fries, potstickers, TV dinners, they weren't gourmet by any means but they were food. Brownie mix. The last thing to come out of that box, double fudge brownie mix, his favorite. Frank said nothing about the mix, just went to work picking up empty cups around Nico's apartment, their usual routine. Well, accept Nico being awake, usually he's hidden under a pile of blankets. 

"Brownie mix?" 

"Brownie mix." 

And that was the end of it. 

"I'll go get your laundry loaded up, switch it on my way back from work, we can have dinner together while we wait," Frank smiled at him in that big nice way he does, where his nose kinda scrunches up and his chest puffs out all proud. It was horribly contagious and made Nico laugh until his face hurt but that really didn't take much. 

"Can Hazel come too or is she busy tonight?" Nico was trying to tame his own smile, trying to make the hope in his voice less obvious, but the idea of getting to have dinner with two of his favorite people was making it incredibly hard, he hasn't been this excited about anything in months. He wasn't super used to two full meals in a day, that thought was worrying to him but it was drowned out by the thought of having that second meal of the day with Hazel and Frank

"I'm sure she'd be able to pop over," Frank winked at him, throwing the bag of Nico's dirty laundry over his shoulder, "she always loves to see you man, we both do." 

Nico's cheeks ached, it'd been so long since they all got to have dinner together, so long since he didn't feel exhausted by just thinking about it. They could watch movies, Nico could tell them about his new favorite podcasts and web series, Hazel could look at all his art that was hung up on the walls, she would get all sappy and talk about how much he's improved and he would try to not go red. It happened every time they all managed to get together. Nico could make them brownies. 


	3. Phone calls home

Frank had just shut the door and Nico was already pacing around his apartment, there was a lot more space to pace without all the clothes on his floor. He would make brownies, maybe clean up a little bit more. He'd have to pick a movie, Frank couldn't handle horror and he always cried at animal movies so those were out, they could watch something animate, corpse bride maybe, just have a chill night on the couch, or they could watch something a little more up beat, fantastic mr fox could work, but maybe they don't want something animated, Hazel always liked the the princess bride so maybe that, or something more fantastical, they could just browse Netflix or Hulu, maybe they don't even want to watch a movie what if they wanted to watch a tv show or something. They really did love to all shit on reality tv together. They'd decide when they get there, it'd be fine, it's ok they'll be happy no matter what Nico, it's ok. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a smooth confident voice, one that sounded like it was right there in his apartment, "Hey, I'm Percy I'm your new neighbor, I would've said hi yesterday but you weren't home."

Nico almost replied to him before he heard frank chuckle a little, "Oh no, I don't live here I'm just helping my friend out." 

Nico's breath was stuck in his throat, like if he breathed Percy would here, Percy would just let himself in and see what a mess of a neighbor he has. 

"Oh cool cool," Percy's voice came out with an edge of awkwardness, there was silence, silence that felt heavy even for Nico who wasn't even part of the conversation. 

"Yeah, umm, I should get going, I gotta get to work."

"Of course man yeah, it was nice meeting you." 

"Frank." 

"Frank! Yeah, I'll let you go."

Nico wanted to crawl into his own skin, god that was so bad, that was so so bad, how could someone who sounded that good just flounder like that. He's glad that Percy thinks he's at work or school at least. It's nice for someone to think he's a functioning part of society.The rest of his neighbors know he isn't, Percy will know too soon enough probably, but he can savor this for now. He can savor knowing Percy doesn't pity him or judge him. To Percy he's just normal, he's just his neighbor. Nico, his totally normal cool elusive neighbor, mysterious, intriguing, yup, that's what he was to Percy now. It didn't matter. Percy would know soon, he'd know why he never ran into Nico in the halls or on the stairs, why they had never awkwardly stood in the same elevator making small talk forgetting each others names. No, no Nico could never forget Percy's name. But, it's all the same, the old lady three doors down gossips, the college kids across the hall talk to him through the door when they come home drunk. Percy would know, he would put the pieces together. He'd ask the same questions, assuming he was sick, that he was disabled in some way, that his ailment was physical but no, just fucked up shit in Nico's head. The thing that made him want to throw up when he even thought about leaving the fragile safety of the apartment, the thing that made him want to tear his skin off every time he thought about people looking at him.

He couldn't let this ruin today for him, fuck that no, no today was good. Today was good, he was going to have dinner with Hazel and Frank, he was going to clean up a little, he'll maybe he'd even eat lunch. He'd call his dad. He has to call dad. Nico knew his socal battery was going to be fucked for the rest of the month, but that was ok. It was all ok because today would be damn good.

  
"Hey dad," the words felt unfamiliar in his mouth.

  
"Nico! Hey," Hades was never the best at conversation, Nico got that from him, definitely, "so um, how are you?"

  
"I'm good, Hazel and Frank are coming over for dinner, Frank brought groceries this morning."

  
"Good, good that's wonderful Nico," Hades could tell that Nico was having a good day, he never talked like this, not this quickly or nicely, it flowed naturally from him in a way that made Hades smile, a smile that Nico could hear over the phone.

  
"So, um," the awkwardness was back in Nico's voice, "did you want me to call for any particular reason?"  
"I just wanted to check in, see if you needed anything, anything at all." Nico knew his dad's love language was giving gifts.

  
Hades never came right out and said it but they all knew he was trying to make up for not being there, that he was trying to provide for them. Nico thought it was sweet honestly. Hades was never a bad dad, Nico and Hazel didn't blame him for not being there he honestly didn't know, they knew he didn't know. It was wild honestly, taking a dna test for fun and finding not only your dad but another sister. Nico can laugh at it sometimes, when he has the energy to laugh. It was like a plot to a disney channel original, find your rich dad and a whole new family after losing your mom, shenanigans ensue. The whole crippling mental health issues didn't fit in but they could write that out in the life action adaptation of Nico's life story. Hades had been there for him ever since, even if he was a little late. Paid for the apartment as long as Nico took some online college courses, he was paying for Hazel's tuition, offered to pay her rent too but she denied the offer.

  
"No, no I'm good, thank you though dad."

  
They were both silent for a minute.

  
"So... do you think we could have dinner sometime?"

  
Nico stayed quiet for another minute, "no, I don't think so dad, I'm, I'm sorry."

  
"Hey no, Nico don't apologize," Hades voice was sweet and gentle, but Nico could hear disappointment in his dad's voice, not disappointed in him, no never disappointed in him, just, disappointment, "it's ok, we wouldn't have to go out anywhere, I could just come visit, casual."

  
Nico laughed a little, "dad do you even know how to do casual?"

  
"I could learn." Hopeful. Hades sounded so so hopeful, it broke Nico's heart.

  
"You'd hate it in my apartment anyways it's a whole mess dad," Nico couldn't imagine his dad in his apartment, dad was all expensive suits and business dinners, the idea of his dad sitting on the couch, watching toddlers in tiaras with Nico, Hazel, and Frank, it just didn't sit right.

  
"I could never hate it Nico, you'd be there."

  
"Dad I," Nico was quiet, "I have to go, I um, I gotta make brownies."

  
"Ok Nico... I love you."

  
"I love you too dad."

  
They had never really gotten used to the whole father son thing, they tried, and they liked what they ended up with. Sure they weren't playing catch in the backyard or having sunday dinners, but, they both meant it when they said I love you across the phone.


End file.
